The rest of the day passed in the same manner.
Us six were sent out to wipe more curses out. There were only grade 2 curses at most, so it wasn't difficult for Tomogui or me. Even though we shared cursed energy pools, when the pool is as large as ours, and our efficiency is this good, we don't really run out.
After wiping the curses for the first time, they ended up switching the pairs to make us work together. I guess it was to determine whether we could work with other people. Even knowing what they were looking for, I didn't bother to try and sync up with my partner, just finish the curse in one punch to get home quicker.
Efficient and uneventful.
At last, the elder seemingly finished with his analysis on us grouped everyone together.
"That will be enough for today."
A collective sigh of relief rippled through the group.
"Your combat fundamentals are adequate," he continued. "Some more than others. Beginning tomorrow, we will shift focus. You will begin studying the basics of Barrier Techniques and Shikigami."
That caught my attention.
Barrier techniques, I recently became aware of my innate domain. If I learn more about barrier techniques, and how to bring that innate domain out to the real world. I should be capable of using domain expansion, the pinnacle of jujutsu.
"You are dismissed," the elder finished. "Rest well."
And just like that, the day ended.
Walking Home
The estate grounds were quiet by the time Tomogui and I made our way back.
Evening had settled in, painting the sky in pale orange and violet. Servants moved about in the distance, preparing for dinner and night duties, but the training fields were empty now.
Neither of us spoke much on the walk.
There was no need.
Ten golden cores rested safely in Tomogui's pocket, all from todays exorcisms.
When we reached our quarters, Aiko was already waiting for us.
"Welcome back," she said with a warm smile. "How was training today?"
"Long," Tomogui answered simply.
"Boring," I added.
She laughed softly. "That good, then?"
"Something like that," I replied, slipping off my shoes at the entrance.
Aiko studied us for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly.
"If you say so," she replied, clearly unconvinced. "Dinner will be ready soon. Don't stay up too late."
"We won't," Tomogui promised.
The moment she left the room, the atmosphere shifted.
Tomogui locked the door behind us.
"Finally," he muttered.
I sat cross-legged on the floor as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the objects that had been occupying both our minds.
The golden cores.
Of the ten golden cores, they were all similar in size and generally looked the same, except for the different number of orange stripes they had.
*Hard to believe no one else can see that* I thought.
Tomogui turned it over with his fingers.
*So,* he said through our link, *This is apparently the foundation of my technique.*
*Cursed Evolution,* I replied.
He nodded.
*You got the memories right?*
*Yeah, it took a while, and they are somewhat blurry, but I got them. You should be the one to try it. If this is like Chiral Manipulation, then I probably can't use the technique as well as you.* This technique is Tomogui's technique; I can use it through the link between our souls, but I can feel that it will be limited in the same way as Tomogui using Chiral Manipulation.
"Here goes nothing."
Cursed energy gathered around his hand in a different pattern from before.
The moment he activated his technique, the core reacted.
It trembled.
Then, before our eyes, it began to melt.
The solid golden surface dissolved into a thick, shimmering liquid before any of it could leak. Tomogui caught it in his water bottle.
I leaned forward.
"It looks eerie, and the cursed energy it gives off, although weak, is disturbing."
"I think I'll call it something."
"Of course you will."
"Holy Ichor."
I stared at him.
"That sounds ridiculous."
"It sounds dignified," he shot back.
"It sounds like a name a cult leader would give, while proclaiming that they will change the world."
Tomogui shrugged. "Still using it."
I sighed.
Holy Ichor it is, then.
*So, should we try this Holy Ichor right now? Actually how do we even use it? Also, what are the benefits of it?* I asked, the memories I got about these parts were confusing
*From my inherited knowledge, we can't just drink the knowledge, we have to inject the Holy Ichor into our gut/brain surgically* Tomogui responded *More specifically for the first 4 levels of evolution, we need to inject this liquid into the 4 different layers of the Gut (mucosa, submucosa, muscularis mucosa, and serosa), while I activate my technique. For the following evolutions, we need to inject this liquid into the brain*
I stared at Tomogui with a blank face *So this technique is useless for now, no way I'm risking something like that, before getting the reverse cursed technique. Even then, I am not risking that without having some test subject*
*I agree, it isn't worth taking the risk, even if we learn RCT, unless we can output RCT healing ourselves from gut damage is dangerous.* Tomogui responded. It's true, if we can output RCT then one of us can heal the other while they are being injected.
*We don't have anyone to test it on, our test subject would have to be a sorcerer, and preferably a grade 1 sorcerer.*
*If a grade 1 sorcerer goes missing the clan will definitely investigate, so it can't be a clan sorcerer.*
*For now the Cursed Evolution isn't an option, we should just focus on the clan training, if I can learn about barrier techniques, I will be one step closer to bringing my innate domain to reality and achieving domain expansion*
*Goodnight then, remember to wake me up for the training in the morning*
____________________________________________________________________________
"Damn it, Futago, we are gonna be late because you didn't wake up on time," Tomogui yelled as we both rushed across the Kamo estate, our bodies reinforced to the max
"My alarm didn't go off, not my fault," I remarked. This kinda reminds me of when I would stress about getting to classes on time
"Stop having nostalgia and run."
"I can do both at once, y'know."
Not long after we made it to the training hall, and rushed to the room the elder had reserved for our training. When we walked in, the other 4 were there, but the elder wasn't yet.
"See, I told you we would be fine, Tomogui," I remarked while Tomogui and I took two seats in the back. Five minutes after class had started, the elder finally came in, and had 7 books in hand. He handed 6 of the books to us and explained.
"These books will help you learn the basics of jujutsu. There are 3 chapters that go very in depth with the following subjects: barrier techniques, binding vows, and shikigami. There is a small section at the end which talks about domain expansions, but that will be useless for sorcerers at your stage."
I opened this book, stacked with a minimum of 100 pages, and prepared myself. For the next 7 months until the Inter-clan tournament, I will be studying the content in this book.
'Maybe I can achieve domain expansion before the tournament.'